Daniel Radcliffe Had Words To Say About J.K. Rowling’s Transphobic Tweets
This past weekend, while the world was dominated by news of Black Lives Matter, that dangerous doofus in the White House, and the continuing threat of coronavirus, J.K. Rowling showed her ass on Twitter over a totally different topic. In a series of transphobic tweets, she picked apart the definition of “woman” and “sex”. Who asked? Sigh. No one. Not a soul.
This ain’t J.K.’s first anti-trans tweet rodeo. And she’s yet to respond to the wave of anger she received. But The Boy Who Lived, Harry James Potter (Muggle name: Daniel Radcliffe), felt compelled to respond. In a statement posted to The Trevor Project site (a non-profit focused on the suicide prevention of LGBTQ+ youth that Daniel has worked with for the last decade), he stated that “transgender women are women”.
via The Trevor Project):
Any statement to the contrary erases the identity and dignity of transgender people and goes against all advice given by professional health care associations who have far more expertise on this subject matter than either Jo or I. According to The Trevor Project, 78% of transgender and nonbinary youth reported being the subject of discrimination due to their gender identity. It’s clear that we need to do more to support transgender and nonbinary people, not invalidate their identities, and not cause further harm.
DanRad says that people will want to paint his statement as “in-fighting” between him and J.K. (or, Jo, as he refers to her), but that isn’t the case. He says he’s “deeply sorry” if J.K.’s comments “tarnished or diminished” the experience of the Harry Potter books. He finishes with:
If these books taught you that love is the strongest force in the universe, capable of overcoming anything; if they taught you that strength is found in diversity, and that dogmatic ideas of pureness lead to the oppression of vulnerable groups; if you believe that a particular character is trans, nonbinary, or gender fluid, or that they are gay or bisexual; if you found anything in these stories that resonated with you and helped you at any time in your life — then that is between you and the book that you read, and it is sacred. And in my opinion nobody can touch that. It means to you what it means to you and I hope that these comments will not taint that too much.
Daniel says he wants to be a better ally, and I think this helps. It’s important that transgender, non-binary and gender non-conforming kids feel supported and loved by their favorite wizard.
I still don’t get why J.K. continues to dig herself further and further into this tone-deaf transphobic hole. It’s like she’s lost part of her soul, and- HOLY SHIT. That’s it! J.K. Horcruxed her soul! It explains everything! See, this is what happens when you hit billionaire status. Dark and terrible magics.
Pic: Wenn.com